Understanding the Implications of mHealth Technology in Collaborative Care Programs and Its Role in Supporting Postpartum Care: Qualitative Interview Study of the Baby2Home Intervention Using the Parallel Journeys Framework.

Background: The postpartum period represents a critical period for both birthing and nonbirthing parents due to mental health concerns and new caregiving demands. Collaborative care models aim to address these needs, but postpartum care remains fragmented, lacking continuity and holistic support. Baby2Home (B2H) is a digital intervention rooted in the collaborative care model, specifically designed to support parents through their transition into parenthood by addressing their physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs.

An mHealth Intervention to Support Psychosocial Well-Being of Racial and Ethnically Diverse Families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of an mHealth neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) parent support smartphone application to improve psychosocial well-being, specifically reduced stress and anxiety, increased parenting competence, and improved social support among a diverse group of parents with infants born preterm in 3 Chicago-area NICUs.

Study Design: A time-lapsed, quasiexperimental design in which control participants were enrolled and then intervention participants enrolled. Data collection occurred at 3 timepoints: NICU admission (AD), discharge (DC), and 30 days post-DC (DC+30).

The design and implementation of a multi-center, pragmatic, individual-level randomized controlled trial to evaluate Baby2Home, an mHealth intervention to support new parents.

Background: Becoming a parent is a transformative experience requiring multiple transitions, including the need to navigate several components of health care, manage any mental health issues, and develop and sustain an approach to infant feeding. Baby2Home (B2H) is a digital intervention built on the collaborative care model (CCM) designed to support families during these transitions to parenthood.

Objectives: We aim to investigate the effects of B2H on preventive healthcare utilization for the family unit and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) trajectories with a focus on mental health.

The Patient-Held Active Record of Medication Status (PHARMS) study: a mixed-methods feasibility analysis.

Background: Medication errors frequently occur as patients transition between hospital and the community, and may result in patient harm. Novel methods are required to address this issue.

Aim: To assess the feasibility of introducing an electronic patient-held active record of medication status device (PHARMS) at the primary-secondary care interface at the time of hospital discharge.

The relationship between information carrying words, memory and language skills in school age children with specific language impairment.

The receptive language measure information-carrying word (ICW) level, is used extensively by speech and language therapists in the UK and Ireland. Despite this it has never been validated via its relationship to any other relevant measures. This study aims to validate the ICW measure by investigating the relationship between the receptive ICW score of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and their performance on standardized memory and language assessments.

Impact of body composition parameters on clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer treated with docetaxel.

Background: Body composition may influence clinical outcomes of certain chemotherapeutic agents. We examined the prognostic significance of skeletal muscle mass and adipose tissue on docetaxel toxicity and overall survival in patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

Methods: A retrospective review of patients medical records with mCRPC, treated with docetaxel was conducted.

The impact of body composition parameters on ipilimumab toxicity and survival in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Background: Body composition is an important predictor of drug toxicity and outcome. Ipilimumab (Ipi), a monoclonal antibody used to treat metastatic melanoma, has specific toxicities. No validated biomarkers that predict Ipi toxicity and efficacy exist.

Serum ferritin in plateletpheresis and whole blood donors.

Background And Objectives: We performed a prospective analysis of iron status in plateletpheresis donors, using whole blood donors as a control group, to assess the haematinic effects of regular anti-coagulated extracorporeal circulation and platelet collection.

Materials And Methods: Ferritin levels were measured in samples from 31 regular male plateletpheresis donors and from 14 first time male whole blood donors, immediately before and immediately after donation, and immediately before the next donation. An additional 33 regular male plateletpheresis donors and 17 first time male whole blood donors had serum ferritin levels checked predonation.

Design and evaluation of a novel subatmospheric pressure bioreactor for the preconditioning of tissue-engineered vascular constructs.

Purpose: The pre-conditioning of tissue-engineered vascular scaffolds with mechanical stimuli is being recognised as an essential step in producing a functional vascular construct. In this study we design and evaluate a novel bioreactor, which exerts a mechanical strain on developing vascular scaffolds via subatmospheric pressure.

Methods: We design and construct a bioreactor, which exerts subatmospheric pressure via a vacuum assisted closure unit.

Dementia in older people admitted to hospital: a regional multi-hospital observational study of prevalence, associations and case recognition.

Background: Previous studies have indicated a prevalence of dementia in older admissions of ∼42% in a single London teaching hospital, and 21% in four Queensland hospitals. However, there is a lack of published data from any European country on the prevalence of dementia across hospitals and between patient groups.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and associations of dementia in older patients admitted to acute hospitals in Ireland.

Body Composition by Computed Tomography as a Predictor of Toxicity in Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated With Sunitinib.

Background: Sunitinib is a standard first-line option for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Body composition is a prognostic factor in cancer patients and patients with loss of skeletal muscle mass and fat-free mass (FFM) are prone to dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) during targeted drug therapy. We investigated whether body composition by computed tomography predicted DLT from sunitinib in mRCC.

The Reasoning and Regulating Medication Adherence Instrument for patients with coronary artery disease: development and psychometric evaluation.

Background: Many patients experience difficulty taking medications resulting in suboptimal adherence. Ambiguity surrounding adherence issues in chronic illness has been exacerbated by a lack of patient-centered, medication-specific, and theoretically integrative measurement instruments.

Aim: To develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure the factors that influence adherence in patients prescribed pharmacotherapy for coronary artery disease.

Strategy for the reduction of Trichloromethane residue levels in farm bulk milk.

High fat dairy products, such as butter and margarine can be contaminated during the milk production process with a residue called Trichloromethane (TCM), which results from the use of chlorine based detergent solutions. Although, TCM concentrations in Irish products are not at levels that are a public health issue, such contamination can cause marketing difficulties in countries to which Irish products are being exported. In an attempt to reduce such milk residues, a template procedure was developed, tried and tested on 43 farms (from 3 processing companies).

Delirium in an adult acute hospital population: predictors, prevalence and detection.

Background: To date, delirium prevalence and incidence in acute hospitals has been estimated from pooled findings of studies performed in distinct patient populations.

Objective: To determine delirium prevalence across an acute care facility.

Design: A point prevalence study.

Validity and reliability of patient-centered outcome measures in oral dysesthesia.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of a quality of life instrument in patients with oral dysesthesia.

Study Design: Forty-five individuals newly diagnosed with oral dysesthesia (37 women, 8 men) were enrolled in this study. Individuals were interviewed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14).

Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates in Southwest Ireland.

Tuberculosis has had significant effects on Ireland over the past two centuries, causing persistently higher morbidity and mortality than in neighbouring countries until the last decade. This study describes the results of genotyping and drug susceptibility testing of 171 strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolated between January 2004 and December 2006 in a region of Ireland centred on the city of Cork. Spoligotype comparisons were made with the SpolDB4 database and clustered 130 strains in 23 groups, forty-one strains showed unique Spoligotyping patterns.

Classification of array CGH data using smoothed logistic regression model.

Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) provides a genome-wide information of DNA copy number that is potentially useful for disease classification. One immediate problem is that the data contain many features (probes) but only a few samples. Existing approaches to overcome this problem include features selection, ridge regression and partial least squares.

Self-collected versus health professional-collected genital swabs to identify the prevalence of group B streptococcus: a comparison of patient preference and efficacy.

Objective: This study aims to determine the prevalence of genital tract group B streptococcus (GBS) colonization in a cohort of pregnant Irish women and to compare patient preference and efficacy of self-collected versus health professional-collected swabs.

Study Design: In this prospective cohort study, 600 pregnant women attending public and private antenatal clinics at the Unified Maternity Services, Cork were included. At 35-37 weeks of pregnancy, these women self-collected an ano-vaginal swab and a health professional-collected a second swab on same clinic visit.

Prospective evaluation of the referral pattern to restorative dentistry consultation clinics in Ireland.

The objective of this study was to analyse pattern of referral to Restorative Dentistry Consultation Clinics in a Dental Teaching Hospital. Patient demographic details and referral information were collected on new patient clinics. The majority of patients were female (62.

Robust smooth segmentation approach for array CGH data analysis.

Motivation: Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) provides a genome-wide technique to screen for copy number alteration. The existing segmentation approaches for analyzing aCGH data are based on modeling data as a series of discrete segments with unknown boundaries and unknown heights. Although the biological process of copy number alteration is discrete, in reality a variety of biological and experimental factors can cause the signal to deviate from a stepwise function.

Sensitivity and specificity of a two-question screening tool for depression in a specialist palliative care unit.

Objectives: The primary objective in this study is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a two-item screening interview for depression versus the formal psychiatric interview, in the setting of a specialist palliative in-patient unit so that we may identify those individuals suffering from depressive disorder and therefore optimise their management in this often-complex population.

Methods: A prospective sample of consecutive admissions (n = 167) consented to partake in the study, and the screening interview was asked separately to the formal psychiatric interview.

Results: The two-item questionnaire, achieved a sensitivity of 90.

Surgical and visual outcomes following exchange of opacified Hydroview intraocular lenses.

Aim: To report the clinical and surgical outcomes following exchange of opacified Hydroview intraocular lenses (IOLs), and to relate the final visual and anatomic results to clinical and surgical variables.

Methods: This is a prospective study of seventy-three eyes that underwent exchange of opacified Hydroview IOLs in Waterford Regional Hospital, Ireland. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative details were recorded.

CD38 is associated with premenopausal and postmenopausal bone mineral density and postmenopausal bone loss.

One goal of osteoporosis research is to identify the genes and environmental factors that contribute to low bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture. Linkage analyses have identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs), however, the genes contributing to low BMD are largely unknown. We examined the potential association of an intronic polymorphism in CD38 with BMD and postmenopausal bone loss.